Thursday, August 15, 2013

Wonder of Rome

Because of the blog hop and book giveaway (keep reading), we will have Zen Tuesday this week instead of Zen Monday.

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"At
the very south ende of the chirch of South-Cadbyri standeth Camallate,
sumtyme a famose toun or castelle, apon a very torre or hille,
wunderfully enstregnthenid of nature. . .The people can telle nothing
ther but that they have hard say that Arture much resortid to Camalat."
- John Leland, 1542

I'm
honored to participate in a blog hop this week called "The Wonder of
Rome." Writers of Historical Fiction who specialize in Roman History are
part of the hop.

Wait a minute. My novel, Camelot & Vine,
is about a failed Hollywood actress who falls through a gap in time and
saves the life of King Arthur, who is, at best, a mythical character.
What does that have to do with the history of Rome?

Quite a bit, actually. I didn't know that when I began to research Camelot & Vine.
But the more I learned, the more I understood that had there been a
King Arthur figure, he would have lived in late 5th-early 6th Century
post-Roman Britain. He and his people would still be feeling the effects
of the Roman legacy, which had lasted 366 years and left Britain
vulnerable and in turmoil.

My idea for the story came from a visit
to England in 1999. From the top of the Glastonbury Tor, I asked a tour
guide what was that hill I saw to the south? "That's Cadbury Hill," he
said. "It's said to have been Camelot." I was hooked! Could the hill I
saw have been Camelot? Was there a real King Arthur?

Yes and no.
There was no Camelot, nor was there a person named King Arthur. But
someone lived on that hill, likely a great warrior and his entourage, in
the early 6th Century. And someone united the Britons in that part of
the country, around that time, to hold off their invaders for a
generation. Riothamas, perhaps. Many perhapses.

I read everything I could get my hands on. But the history, archaeology, and speculation were not enough. I wanted to go
to Camelot--not the prettified, knights-and-ladies Camelot from the
musical (though I loved the musical)--not the idealized, heroic Camelot
from Chretien de Troyes or Sir Thomas Mallory--not even the sweet, wise
picture of Camelot painted by T.H. White. I wanted to go to the real,
dark ages-era, Cadbury hill. Cadebir.

But honey, it's dangerous there!

So
I sent Casey Clemens. Like me, Casey is an actor in Hollywood,
rethinking her path. Unlike me, she's made a lot of mistakes. (Okay,
I've made some, just not the same ones.) On the eve of her 40th
birthday, Casey's mistakes catch up with her. She flees Hollywood to
England, where a freak accident sends her flying through a gap in time.
She lands in 500 AD, accidentally saving King Arthur's life.

Casey
knows little of history, only what she remembers learning at her
Daddy's knee. Her father was a historian, specializing in late Rome and
early Britain. As Casey is carried across the Salisbury Plain, chained
in a wagon, she gets up the nerve to ask one of her captors how long it
will take to get to Camelot, where she believes they're going. He
corrects her ("Cadebir," the oldest word I could find for Cadbury Hill),
then tells her it won't be long. "It's a good road," he says. "Roman."
As if that's all one needs to know.

Casey marvels at the condition
of the road after a hundred years, and wishes her father could see it.
She misses him, though it's years since his death. Casey's got a lot of
things to figure out around the subject of men.

It's fantasy, but I
wanted to set the story in reality. I used the kind of clothes people
would have worn at that time. I researched what kinds of foods were
available in Somerset (which wasn't Somerset yet) in 500 AD. I sent the
characters on treks and errands along the Roman roads. I even created a
bit of language, based on the few words that survive from early
Brythonic, with some Cornish thrown in.

Much of the story takes place atop Cadbury Hill, also known as Cadbury Castle,
not only because "It's said to have been Camelot," but because there
really was a settlement on the hilltop at around 500 AD. The hill's
history as a fort goes back much further, with evidence of occupation in
Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times. Excavations have shown that
Romans and Saxons also used the hillfort.

Referring mostly to the work of archaeologist Leslie Alcock
in the 1960's, I put a great hall, a church, and several huts on the
hilltop and mapped them out as Alcock had found them. I added a Roman
barracks, which Alcock's research also discovered. His work also
justified the theory that a great Brythonic leader had lived there with his
entourage at around the turn of the 6th Century, and that they had trade
with other countries.

I believe that using as much reality in my
story as I could find helps to ground Casey's adventure in truth. But
it's a fantasy, really. A lost woman finds herself. That story could be
set almost anywhere.

Between 8/15/13 and 8/19/13, one random commenter will win a free copy of my novel, Camelot & Vine. So feel free to say something!

Please
visit and say hello to the other blog hop participants. They're
knowledgeable about the topic, and creative in expressing it.

It depends, Mik's $ Toy. There are no sex scenes or swear words in the book, although there's some violence. The main character refers to having sex (though we don't see it), and in the beginning she's dating a married man. She learns her lesson, though.

Fascinating to read about your research and process of writing Camelot & Vine! I really enjoyed how realistically you created that world. I could smell it, hear it, feel the textures, see it through Casey's eyes.

What fun be part of this blog hop! And I think Camelot & Vine fits right in with the History of Rome theme. You've done a great job summarizing not only the wonderful story but a bit about your research. I loved the book, and now I want to visit Cadbury Hill too! And learn more about Roman history . . . time to hop!

Just popping in quick to say I'm so glad you enjoyed the SH/Jeremy Brett episode! (And even spotted *the door* from the photo). I became a Brett fan after Sherlock Holmes; the range of his roles is just incredible.

Thanks, Susan. I don't know everyone's process, but I would guess most writers do the same--follow an initial spark to see where it leads. Some are dead ends! It helps to find a passion for the story, because you have to stick with it a long time.

Sneaky Pete ought to be able to find a plethora of inspiration on Rome and Christianity on line. He might check out the blogs in the hop and see what interests him. I didn't know about the reenactments, tell us more. Romessance Faire?

Thanks, Margaret. I'm going to put all the names in a hat tomorrow and have John draw out a random winner.

I had posted this on my other blog, and some people weren't able to comment there so I posted it here. This means I'll be giving away two copies. If you want an extra chance, go to http://petreaburchard.com/2013/08/15/wonder-of-rome/ and see if WordPress will allow you to comment.